Marine Resource Exploitation and Economic Liability in Islamic Law

Reconstructing Sadd al-Dharā’i (Blocking the Means) and Ḍamān (Liability) in Illegal Fishing Cases

Abstract

Illegal fishing poses interconnected ecological and economic challenges by depleting marine resources, undermining distributive justice, and compromising the rights of present and future generations. Although prohibited under national and international law, the adequacy of existing legal responses in addressing prevention, economic liability, and ecological harm warrants further analysis from the perspective of Islamic economic law. This study examines how sadd al-dharā’i (blocking the means to harm) and ḍamān (liability and compensation) can be integrated into an Islamic legal framework for addressing illegal fishing. Employing a qualitative normative-juridical method, the study analyzes classical uṣūl al-fiqh, contemporary Islamic criminal law, Islamic economic law, national legislation, and international law of the sea. It also draws on Jasser Auda’s systems approach to maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah to connect preventive legal reasoning with economic accountability and ecological protection. The analysis argues that addressing illegal fishing requires more than punitive sanctions: sadd al-dharā’i provides a normative basis for preventing pathways to ecological and economic harm, while ḍamān offers a framework for examining liability and compensation for resulting losses. These principles complement ta‘zīr sanctions and support a more integrated approach to marine resource governance grounded in distributive justice and public welfare. The study contributes to comparative Islamic legal scholarship by articulating the complementary functions of preventive jurisprudence, criminal sanctions, and economic liability in addressing marine resource exploitation. It also provides a conceptual basis for evaluating fisheries policies through the objectives of Islamic law and the protection of intergenerational resource rights.